Eggless Chocolate Melting Moments | Melting Moments with Chocolate | Step by Step Recipe

After the brownie and fudge I thought I must make some cookies and was browsing some chocolate books that I have on hand. Then deciding that Internet must have some good eggless cookies, I landed in Joy of baking space to discover these melting moments. Then I realized that in recent times I have seen so many versions of this on many blogs. I liked the simple one that this recipe gave and I simply added cocoa to make it chocolate.

My boys refuse to eat anything that doesn't look like chocolate. On reading the description it is said that these melting moments are similar to yet another version of cookies called the Mexican wedding cakes. Both the cookies are round balls, dusted with confectioners sugar. And both are butter based that gives that melt in the mouth taste. The only difference between the both is that ground nuts are used in Mexican Wedding Cakes, while cornstarch is used in melting moments...how delicious. My next venture will surely be Mexican wedding cake, or maybe I have already made it without knowing the name.

We were off to our sis-in-laws place for pongal and just came back. I baked a huge batch of four different cookies for them. Everybody loved and were so amazed that those were homemade. These melt in the mouth cookies were so much of a hit and my kids loved it. Especially the sugar dusted on the top made these so delicious to munch on.

Eggless Chocolate Melting Moments Recipe

Ingredients Needed:

All purpose flour / Maida - 1 cup
Cornstarch / Cornflour - 1/2 cup
Powdered Sugar / Icing Sugar - 3/4 cup
Butter - 3/4 cup(in room temperature)
Cocoa powder - 2 tsps
Icing Sugar for dusting - 2 tbsp

How to bake Melting Moments:

In a bowl, sieve the flour cornflour and cocoa powder together. In another bowl, cream the sugar and butter together well till it becomes soft and fluffy. Then add the flour the butter slowly and mix well. The dough will be soft and easy to handle.

Pre heat the oven at 185 Deg C, grease a baking tray and drop in balls of the dough on the greased tray.

Bake the cookies at 185 C for 15 mins. Once done check and make sure it's cooked. Bake for another 5 mins and allow to cool. Sometimes it may take another 10 more minutes.

Let it cool completely before removing from the tray and dusting with some icing sugar.

Once it's cooled the sugar gets into the cookies and you get that soft melt in the mouth taste.

Sending this to:
Kavi, who is guest hosting Kid's Delight themed on Something Sweet

and my own Chocolate Mela


Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 12

Savory Cheese Crackers | Savory Cookies with Cheese and Pepper with Step by Step Recipe

Just as in cakes, when you figure out how the basic cake works for you, you can practically do the same with the biscuit dough too. For today's post I was wondering what I should do, then remembered the Cheddar cheese that needed to be used up. I had the mozzarella cheese but past it's shelf life.

Making this was pretty easy and I didn't really feel the hassle I normally do when baking. The dough was very simple to handle. And I was happy that I used up that cheese well.

After resting it for a while, I offered it to Daddy who said it was yummy. What else can I ask. And of course my baked dishes are always appreciated by Konda and Peddu. I am not sure why Chinnu doesn't like these but he politely says no. I hope one day he starts liking these.

Step by Step Pictures for making Crackers

Savory Cheese Crackers | Savory Cookies with Cheese and Pepper


All purpose flour - 1 cup
Whole Wheat flour / Atta - 1/2
Cheddar Cheese - 3/4 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Butter - 2 tbsp
Oil - 2 tbsp
Salt a pinch
Pepper - 1 tsp
Milk - 2 -3 tbsp

How to make Savory Cheese Crackers

Grate the cheese and keep side.

In a bowl, shift the flour together with baking powder.

Add salt and cheese to the flour, mix well.

Get the butter at room temperature, add the butter and oil to the dough and crumble well.

Add milk slowly to the dough and mix well. Add only as much as required to roll out a disc. Using a cookie cutter or any or shape, press out cookies.

Pre heat the oven at 170 degree C and then bake these cookies on a greased tray for 15 mins.

Allow it to cool before storing.

Note: I didn't count how many crackers I got, it all depends on how thin or thick you want to roll it out. You can use cookie cutter or pinch out balls and press them into thick cookies. Either ways you will have to allow it to cool down completely before munching on these delightful cheese crackers. 

Sending these to Kid's Delight, guest hosted by Gayathri themed on Crunchy Snacks for Kids. 

Also to Harini who is guest hosting Pari's 'Only Baked'.


Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#7

Jeera Biscuits | Cumin Cookies | Step by Step Recipe

We started the second group of the Blogging Marathon. I planned to make Crunchy Snacks for Kids, with the hope of sending it for this month's edition of Kid's Delight, guest hosted by Gayathri. I am not sure if not for the BM I might get myself do it. I made these Jeera Biscuits, inspired by Deepika. I read her post the day she posted and had ever since planned to make it. The recipe is so simple and uses whole wheat flour. I was so impressed with the whole thing. Yet it took me many days to finally get doing it.

I had made these in the morning, wanted to take these to the Blogger's meet we had. Priya Suresh came down and some of the Chennai food bloggers met. We had great time eating all the homemade food. But unfortunately I didn't take these as they were just getting settled and I had taken the final picture.

Step by Step pictures to make Cumin Biscuits at home

Before baking at 180 C

Ingredients Needed

Wheat flour - 1 cup
Demerara sugar - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Butter - 4 tbsp
Salt a pinch
Milk 2-4Tbsp ( I didn't use this at all)
Jeera / cumin - 1 tsp

How to make Jeera Biscuits

In a bowl, shift the flour with baking powder. Then mix in the sugar. Mix well.

Melt the butter in microwave for 30 secs.

Then slowly add the butter to the flour and knead to a dough. Depending on how it forms a ball, add milk. Mine was fine without adding any milk. Pinch out small balls, press into small discs. Press the jeera on the top.

Pre heat the oven at 170 degree C. Then bake at 170 degree C for 15 mins.

Allow it to cool.
Notes: As far as I know brown sugar and Demerara is the same. The granules didn't get melted, so it gave a good munch when you bite into the biscuits. The other recipes I checked were savory with the jeera added to the dough. So will surely do that next time.

Sending these to Kid's Delight, guest hosted by Gayathri themed on Crunchy Snacks for Kids. 
I was so glad that the Peddu and Konda loved eating these and that I have one more added snack for their school snack box.

Also to Harini who is guest hosting Pari's 'Only Baked'.


Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#7

Iyengar Bakery Khara Biscuit – Karnataka Special | Indian Cooking Challenge for May | How to make Khara Biscuit Step By Step Recipe!

This month for Indian Cooking Challenge, I thought I should finally attempt at baking and this Iyengar Bakery Khara Biscuit is a specialty dish from Karnataka.

I have always been obsessed about baking savory biscuits. Though I have been baking for a long time, I never really made much of a savory dish. Especially those salted biscuits you get at the local bakery tastes really so yum.

So when I was chatting with Champa, I just mentioned that for this May Month challenge I was looking at doing something completely new as in terms of the cooking method. I said I wanted to bake and wanted it to be a savory dish. Now something traditionally Indian and baked dishes are not something that comes to mind right away right.

I of course remembered my bakery butter biscuits. But I cannot really be tagging it as something traditional though I remember my Amma making smilier butter biscuits in a sand shifted oven that used to be common in those days. It was literally heated sand on which they place a kadai and bake. Now I don't really remember how else it was used. But the biscuits used to come so well.

Anyway Champa remembered she makes a Khara Biscuit which tastes very much like the ones that is available in bakery shops. I asked her to share the recipe, she went one step ahead and posted it with great pictures.

As always I left to making this recipe till the last moment and hasten to make it this weekend. The preparation and the entire process is not that time consuming or tough to handle. I say this as I had to click through the entire process myself with everybody else busy with the TV. I was glad that everybody liked it except Chinnu. Somehow he is not very enthu about new dishes that are not chocolate.

I always have this confusion about what a cookie is or a biscuit. These Savory Shortbread cookies are just as delicious as the savory biscuits we get in bakery, so you are good at calling it anything.

For once I followed the exact measurement, hoping it will get disappeared being a savory biscuit. I only reduced the chilies much for the kids. And I made use of the measurements I got recently and surprisingly it had a 1/3 cup. You won't believe a while ago I was literally scratching my head to visualize exactly how a 1/3 cup amount will be, did I tell you that I am not really that good at Maths? Well now you know.

Lets check out the recipe

Step by Step Pictures

Iyengar Bakery Khara Biscuit

Ingredients Needed:

All purpose flour / Maida - 2 cups/ 250 gms

Butter - 1/3 cup softened or about 5 tbsp

Sugar - 4 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Green Chillies - 1 (more per taste)

Coriander leaves/Cilantro - few twigs

Curds/Yogurt - 3 tbsp (start with 2 TBSP)

Method to prepare:

Preheat the oven to 170 C.

Grease the baking tray with butter/ oil. Set aside. Check Champa's notes on how to use parchment paper.

In a bowl, shift the flour and salt together. Set aside.

In another bowl, cream butter and sugar till creamy. Add the 2 tbsp curds and continue to beat.  Add the dry ingredients and mix slowly. You can add the flour slowly and after a while have to use the hands to mix well. Just blend everything well together.

The dough was too stiff, so I added another tbsp of curds. Add the chopped cilantro and chillies.

Dough will have to be crumbly not wet at all. Roll the dough into 1/4" thickness.

As the dough was stiff I didn't need any flour and was able to roll out without it getting struck.

Cut with your cookie cutters. Place on the baking tray and bake for 15 minutes at 170 C. I checked at this time and it was done, maybe because I baked at higher temperature.

Check at halfway and rotate the biscuits.

Cool on the wire rack in the sheet and when cool, transfer to an air tight container.

Notes:

These cookies don't brown. When I tried baking for 2 more mins, the bottom had a golden brown look. These remain soft when hot but become firm once they are cooled.

You can change just about anything instead of coriander leaves/cilantro like Mint leaves, curry leaves etc. I guess even those other herbs would suit very well.

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Tomorrow we are going to start the 6th Edition of Blogging Marathon, be sure to check out!

To all my ICC members, please link your Bakery Khara Biscuit post to Mr. Linky.